Variable gain amplifier with subthreshold biasing

ABSTRACT

This disclosure is directed to reducing output voltage distortions of Variable Gain Amplifiers (VGAs). A VGA may include a number of amplifiers each providing a portion of a total gain of the VGA. For example, a processing circuit may select one or more of the amplifiers of the VGA to provide the output signal with a selected gain. However, the selected amplifiers may provide amplified signals with one or more distortion signals when receiving a bias voltage. Systems and methods are described to reduce or cancel the distortion signals of the selected amplifiers by providing a subthreshold nonzero bias voltage (e.g., a weak voltage) to the remaining (e.g., non-selected) amplifiers of the VGA. For example, the non-selected amplifiers may receive the weak voltage to provide distortion signals with similar voltage amplitude and out of phase compared to the distortion signals of the selected amplifiers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/843,507, filed Jun. 17, 2022, entitled “VARIABLE GAIN AMPLIFIER WITHSUBTHRESHOLD BIASING,” the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communication, andmore specifically to signal distortions of transmission signals,reception signals, or both, in variable gain amplifiers of wirelesscommunication devices.

In an electronic device, such as a wireless communication device, avariable gain amplifier may amplify a voltage of input signals. Thevariable gain amplifier may include a number of selectable amplifiers toamplify the input signal with a gain factor. For example, a transceiverof a radio frequency front-end circuit may include one or more variablegain amplifiers to amplify a voltage of received signals, amplify avoltage of transmission signals, or both. In different cases, thevariable gain amplifier may apply a different gain factor to the inputsignals based on a different selection of the selectable amplifiers.However, the selected amplifiers, in operation, may generate one or moredistortion signals when the variable gain amplifier provides anamplified output signal.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. Itshould be understood that these aspects are presented merely to providethe reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and thatthese aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may notbe set forth below.

In one embodiment, a variable gain amplifier circuit is described. Thevariable gain amplifier may include an input terminal, an outputterminal, a biasing circuit that provides a bias voltage equal to orabove a bias voltage threshold, and a subthreshold biasing circuit thatprovides a subthreshold nonzero bias voltage below the bias voltagethreshold. The variable gain amplifier may also include a firstamplifier having a first input coupled to the input terminal, a secondinput that couples to the biasing circuit, and a first output coupled tothe output terminal. The variable gain amplifier may further include asecond amplifier having a third input coupled to the input terminal, afourth input that couples to the subthreshold biasing circuit, and asecond output coupled to the output terminal.

In another embodiment, an electronic device is described. The electronicdevice may include one or more antennas and a variable gain amplifiercoupled to the one or more antennas. The variable gain amplifier mayinclude a first amplifier having a first input that receives a biasvoltage equal to or greater than a bias voltage threshold to provide anamplified signal with one or more distortion signals. The variable gainamplifier may also include a second amplifier having a second input thatreceives a subthreshold nonzero bias voltage below the bias voltagethreshold to provide a first distortion cancelling signal.

In yet another embodiment, a method is described. The method includesreceiving an indication to amplify a signal with a gain by a processorcommunicatively coupled to a variable gain amplifier circuit. The methodincludes determining one or more amplifiers of the variable gainamplifier circuit to provide the signal with the gain by the processor.Moreover, the method includes causing a biasing circuit to provide abias voltage equal to or higher than a bias voltage threshold to the oneor more amplifiers to amplify the signal with the gain by the processor.The method further includes causing a subthreshold biasing circuit toprovide a subthreshold nonzero bias voltage below the bias voltagethreshold to one or more amplifiers of remaining amplifiers of thevariable gain amplifier to provide a distortion cancelling signal tocancel at least a portion of distortions of the amplified signal by theprocessor. Furthermore, the method includes causing the variable gainamplifier to output a combination of the signal and the distortioncancelling signal by the processor.

Various refinements of the features noted above may exist in relation tovarious aspects of the present disclosure. Further features may also beincorporated in these various aspects as well. These refinements andadditional features may exist individually or in any combination. Forinstance, various features discussed below in relation to one or more ofthe illustrated embodiments may be incorporated into any of theabove-described aspects of the present disclosure alone or in anycombination. The brief summary presented above is intended only tofamiliarize the reader with certain aspects and contexts of embodimentsof the present disclosure without limitation to the claimed subjectmatter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of this disclosure may be better understood upon readingthe following detailed description and upon reference to the drawingsdescribed below in which like numerals refer to like parts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device, according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of the electronic device of FIG. 1 ,according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter the electronic device ofFIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a receiver of the electronic device ofFIG. 1 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a variable gain amplifier (VGA) of theelectronic device of FIG. 1 including three amplifiers, according toembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a subthreshold biasing circuit of theelectronic device of FIG. 1 and electrically coupled to the VGA of FIG.5 , according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a graph of a distortion signal and a compensated distortionsignal of an output of the VGA of FIG. 5 , according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for generating the output signal ofthe VGA of FIG. 5 with reduced distortion, according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating reduction of electrical power ofdistortion signals of the variable gain amplifier of FIG. 5 based onproviding different nonzero subthreshold bias voltages to non-selectedamplifiers, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

When introducing elements of various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the articles “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to mean thatthere are one or more of the elements. The terms “comprising,”“including,” and “having” are intended to be inclusive and mean thatthere may be additional elements other than the listed elements.Additionally, it should be understood that references to “oneembodiment” or “an embodiment” of the present disclosure are notintended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additionalembodiments that also incorporate the recited features. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Use of the terms“approximately,” “near,” “about,” “close to,” and/or “substantially”should be understood to mean including close to a target (e.g., design,value, amount), such as within a margin of any suitable orcontemplatable error (e.g., within 0.1% of a target, within 1% of atarget, within 5% of a target, within 10% of a target, within 25% of atarget, and so on). Moreover, it should be understood that any exactvalues, numbers, measurements, and so on, provided herein, arecontemplated to include approximations (e.g., within a margin ofsuitable or contemplatable error) of the exact values, numbers,measurements, and so on.

This disclosure is directed to signal distortion compensation invariable gain amplifiers (VGAs). A VGA may include a number ofselectable amplifiers to amplify input signals. The selectableamplifiers may each have a gain (e.g., a gain factor). Moreover, thegain of selected amplifiers of the VGA may have an additive effect. Forexample, the VGA may combine amplified output signals of the selectedamplifiers to provide a VGA output signal with a total gain.Accordingly, the total gain of the VGA may include a combined gain ofthe selected amplifiers.

Radio frequency (RF) circuitry of a wireless communication device (e.g.,a smartphone) may include one or more RF transceivers having one or moreVGAs. The RF circuitry may also include one or more antennas to receiveand transmit signals (e.g., RF signals). In some cases, a processingcircuitry of the wireless communication device may activate or select(e.g., provide instructions to select) one or more selectable amplifiersof a VGA to amplify transmission signals or reception signals with atotal gain.

The wireless communication device may include a biasing circuit and asubthreshold biasing circuit electrically coupled to the one or moreVGAs. The biasing circuit may provide a bias voltage to the activated orselected amplifiers of the VGA. The bias voltage may be higher than avoltage threshold of the selectable amplifiers (e.g., an ON voltagethreshold). For example, each of the activated or selected amplifiersmay amplify the input signals with a respective gain to provide anamplified output signal when receiving the biasing voltage. Accordingly,the VGA of the RF circuitry may provide the amplified transmissionsignal (e.g., the VGA output signal) to the one or more antennas fortransmission and/or provide the amplified received signal (e.g., the VGAoutput signal) to one or more downstream components (e.g., theprocessing circuitry) for processing.

In some cases, in operation, one or more of the activated amplifiers ofthe VGA may generate one or more distortion signals when the VGAprovides an amplified output signal. For example, a nonlinear signaltransfer function of one or more elements of an activated amplifier(e.g., one or more transistors) may generate the distortion signals. Ifnot compensated for, the distortion signals of the selected amplifiersmay cause deviation and/or non-linear behavior of the amplified outputsignal and/or the VGA output signal. Moreover, the distortion signalsmay disturb one or more operations of the downstream components (e.g.,the processing circuitry).

With the foregoing in mind, the activated amplifiers of the VGA maygenerate the distortion signals within a voltage magnitude range whenreceiving the bias voltage. Moreover, different activated amplifiershaving different gains may provide distortion signals within the voltagemagnitude range. The disclosed embodiments supply a nonzero subthresholdbias voltage (e.g., below 0.1 microvolt (RV), below 0.5 μV, below 0.1millivolt (mV), below 0.1 volt (V), and so on) to one or more ofremaining deactivated or non-selected amplifiers of the VGA, causing theone or more deactivated amplifiers to also generate distortion signalswithin the voltage magnitude range, which may at least partially cancelor compensate for the distortion signals generated by the activatedamplifiers. In particular, the nonzero subthreshold bias voltage may bebelow the ON voltage threshold of the selectable amplifiers of the VGA.For example, the one or more elements of the selectable amplifiers mayprovide the distortion signals when receiving the nonzero subthresholdbias voltage.

The subthreshold bias voltage may be determined during manufacturing orduring operation of the wireless communication device aftermanufacturing. For example, different amplifiers (or combination ofamplifiers) of the selectable amplifiers may provide differentdistortion signals when receiving the bias voltage (or when activated).Each of the activated amplifiers (or combination of the activatedamplifiers) may provide different distortion signals with the amplifiedoutput signals.

In different cases, an activated amplifier may provide one or moreunique distortion signals based on device or component size variations,device or component type variations, configuration variations, and/orassembly process variations, among other things. Accordingly, thesubthreshold biasing circuit may provide a different subthreshold biasvoltage for generating the distortion cancelling signals when differentset of amplifiers of the VGA are activated. In some cases, multiplesubthreshold bias voltages may be stored in a non-transitory memorydevice (e.g., in the form of a lookup table). Accordingly, thesubthreshold bias voltage may be selected and/or provided to thenon-selected amplifiers based on the activated amplifiers of the VGA.

Compensating for the distortion signals of the activated amplifiers bythe remaining deactivated amplifiers of the VGA may cancel or reduce atleast some deviations and/or non-linear behavior of the VGA outputsignal. Moreover, compensating for the distortion signals of theactivated amplifiers may improve a signal to noise and distortion ratio(SNDR), signal to noise ratio (SNR), a signal distortion ratio (SDR),and/or an Output Third-Order Intercept Point (OIP3) of the VGA.Furthermore, the VGA, and in turn the RF circuitry and the wirelesscommunication device, may use a smaller area (e.g., footprint) to cancel(or reduce) an electrical power of the distortion signals based on usingthe deactivated amplifiers to cancel (or reduce) the electrical power ofthe distortion signals of the activated amplifiers.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic device 10 (e.g., a wirelesscommunication device, a mobile communication device, a smartphone, andso on), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Theelectronic device 10 may include, among other things, one or moreprocessors 12 (collectively referred to herein as a single processor forconvenience, which may be implemented in any suitable form of processingcircuitry), memory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, a display 18, inputstructures 22, an input/output (I/O) interface 24, a network interface26, and a power source 28.

The various functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 may include hardwareelements (including circuitry), software elements (includingmachine-executable instructions) or a combination of both hardware andsoftware elements (which may be referred to as logic). The processor 12,the memory 14, the nonvolatile storage 16, the display 18, the inputstructures 22, the I/O interface 24, the network interface 26, and/orthe power source 28 may each be communicatively coupled directly orindirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus,a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data between oneanother. It should be noted that FIG. 1 is merely one example of aparticular implementation and is intended to illustrate the types ofcomponents that may be present in the electronic device 10.

By way of example, the electronic device 10 may include any suitablecomputing device, including a desktop or notebook computer (e.g., in theform of a MacBook®, MacBook® Pro, MacBook Air®, iMac®, Mac® mini, or MacPro® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a portableelectronic or handheld electronic device such as a wireless electronicdevice or smartphone (e.g., in the form of a model of an iPhone®available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), a tablet (e.g., inthe form of a model of an iPad® available from Apple Inc. of Cupertino,California), a wearable electronic device (e.g., in the form of an AppleWatch® by Apple Inc. of Cupertino, California), and other similardevices.

It should be noted that the processor 12 and other related items in FIG.1 may be embodied wholly or in part as software, hardware, or both.Furthermore, the processor 12 and other related items in FIG. 1 may be asingle contained processing module or may be incorporated wholly orpartially within any of the other elements within the electronic device10. The processor 12 may be implemented with any combination ofgeneral-purpose microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate array (FPGAs), programmablelogic devices (PLDs), controllers, state machines, gated logic, discretehardware components, dedicated hardware finite state machines, or anyother suitable entities that may perform calculations or othermanipulations of information. The processors 12 may include one or moreapplication processors, one or more baseband processors, or both, andperform the various functions described herein.

In the electronic device 10 of FIG. 1 , the processor 12 may be operablycoupled with the memory 14 and the nonvolatile storage 16 to performvarious algorithms. For example, as mentioned above and discussed inmore details below, the processor 12 may reference a lookup table storedon the memory 14 and/or the nonvolatile storage 16 to select a nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) among a number of nonzerosubthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)). Moreover, in specific cases, theprocessor 12 may determine and store the nonzero subthreshold biasvoltages (V_(ST)) based on running one or more tests to determinedistortion signals generated by one or more selectable amplifiers of aVGA. Alternatively or additionally, the nonzero subthreshold biasvoltages (V_(ST)) may be predetermined (e.g., during manufacturing) andstored in the memory 14 and/or the nonvolatile storage 16. Such programsor instructions executed by the processor 12 may be stored in anysuitable article of manufacture that includes one or more tangible,computer-readable media.

The tangible, computer-readable media may include the memory 14 and/orthe nonvolatile storage 16, individually or collectively, to store theinstructions, routines, and/or other data (e.g., the lookup table).Moreover, the memory 14 and the nonvolatile storage 16 may include anysuitable articles of manufacture for storing data and executableinstructions, such as random-access memory, read-only memory, rewritableflash memory, hard drives, and optical discs. In addition, programs(e.g., an operating system) encoded on such a computer program productmay also include instructions that may be executed by the processor 12to enable the electronic device 10 to provide various functionalities.

In certain embodiments, the display 18 may facilitate users to viewimages generated on the electronic device 10. In some embodiments, thedisplay 18 may include a touch screen, which may facilitate userinteraction with a user interface of the electronic device 10.Furthermore, it should be appreciated that, in some embodiments, thedisplay 18 may include one or more liquid crystal displays (LCDs),light-emitting diode (LED) displays, organic light-emitting diode (OLED)displays, active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays,or some combination of these and/or other display technologies.

The input structures 22 of the electronic device 10 may enable a user tointeract with the electronic device 10 (e.g., pressing a button toincrease or decrease a volume level). The I/O interface 24 may enableelectronic device 10 to interface with various other electronic devices,as may the network interface 26. In some embodiments, the I/O interface24 may include an I/O port for a hardwired connection for chargingand/or content manipulation using a standard connector and protocol,such as the Lightning connector provided by Apple Inc. of Cupertino,California, a universal serial bus (USB), or other similar connector andprotocol.

The network interface 26 may include, for example, one or moreinterfaces for a personal area network (PAN), such as an ultra-wideband(UWB) or a BLUETOOTH® network, a local area network (LAN) or wirelesslocal area network (WLAN), such as a network employing one of the IEEE802.11x family of protocols (e.g., WI-FI®), and/or a wide area network(WAN), such as any standards related to the Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP), including, for example, a 3^(rd) generation (3G)cellular network, universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS),4^(th) generation (4G) cellular network, long term evolution (LTE®)cellular network, long term evolution license assisted access (LTE-LAA)cellular network, 5^(th) generation (5G) cellular network, and/or NewRadio (NR) cellular network, a satellite network, a non-terrestrialnetwork, and so on.

In particular, the network interface 26 may include, for example, one ormore interfaces for using a Release-15 cellular communication standardof the 5G specifications that include the millimeter wave (mmWave)frequency range (e.g., 24.25-30 gigahertz (GHz)) and/or any othercellular communication standard release (e.g., Release-16, Release-17,any future releases) that define and/or enable frequency ranges used forwireless communication. The network interface 26 of the electronicdevice 10 may allow communication over the aforementioned networks(e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE-LAA, and so forth).

The network interface 26 may also include one or more interfaces for,for example, broadband fixed wireless access networks (e.g., WIMAX®),mobile broadband Wireless networks (mobile WIMAX®), asynchronous digitalsubscriber lines (e.g., ADSL, VDSL), digital videobroadcasting-terrestrial (DVB-T®) network and its extension DVB Handheld(DVB-H®) network, ultra-wideband (UWB) network, alternating current (AC)power lines, and so forth.

As illustrated, the network interface 26 may include a transceiver 30.In some embodiments, all or portions of the transceiver 30 may bedisposed within the processor 12. The transceiver 30 may supporttransmission and receipt of various wireless signals via one or moreantennas, and thus may include a transmitter and a receiver. In somecases, the transceiver 30 may include one or more VGAs. As mentionedabove, a VGA of the transceiver may provide amplified transmissionsignal (e.g., the VGA output signal) to the one or more antennas fortransmission and/or provide the amplified received signal (e.g., the VGAoutput signal) to one or more downstream components, such as theprocessor 12, for processing. The power source 28 of the electronicdevice 10 may include any suitable source of power, such as arechargeable lithium polymer (Li-poly) battery and/or an alternatingcurrent (AC) power converter.

FIG. 2 is a functional diagram of the electronic device 10 of FIG. 1 ,according to embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, theprocessor 12, the memory 14, the transceiver 30, a transmitter 52, areceiver 54, and/or antennas 55 (illustrated as 55A-55N, collectivelyreferred to as an antenna 55) may be communicatively coupled directly orindirectly (e.g., through or via another component, a communication bus,and/or a network) to one another to transmit and/or receive data betweenone another.

The electronic device 10 may include the transmitter 52 and/or thereceiver 54 that respectively enable transmission and reception of databetween the electronic device 10 and an external device via, forexample, a network (e.g., including base stations) or a directconnection. As illustrated, the transmitter 52 and the receiver 54 maybe combined into the transceiver 30. The electronic device 10 may alsohave one or more antennas 55A-55N electrically coupled to thetransceiver 30. The antennas 55A-55N may be configured in anomnidirectional or directional configuration, in a single-beam,dual-beam, or multi-beam arrangement, and so on.

Each antenna 55 may be associated with one or more beams and variousconfigurations. In some embodiments, multiple antennas of the antennas55A-55N of an antenna group or module may be communicatively coupled arespective transceiver 30 and each emit radio frequency signals that mayconstructively and/or destructively combine to form a beam. Theelectronic device 10 may include multiple transmitters, multiplereceivers, multiple transceivers, and/or multiple antennas as suitablefor various communication standards. In some embodiments, thetransmitter 52 and the receiver 54 may transmit and receive informationvia other wired or wireline systems or means.

As illustrated, the various components of the electronic device 10 maybe coupled together by a bus system 56. The bus system 56 may include adata bus, for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, anda status signal bus, in addition to the data bus. The components of theelectronic device 10 may be coupled together or accept or provide inputsto each other using some other mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the transmitter 52 (e.g., transmitcircuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Asillustrated, the transmitter 52 may receive outgoing signal 60 in theform of a digital signal to be transmitted via the antenna 55. In somecases, the outgoing signal 60 may include a waveform. For example, thewaveform may have a specific oscillation frequency or may include achirp signal with increasing or decreasing frequency. Moreover, inalternative or additional embodiments, the electronic device 10 may usealternative or additional types of waveform such as pulse waveform,stepped-frequency continuous wave (SFCW), orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing symbols (OFDM), ultra-wideband (UWB), signals ofopportunity (e.g., WiFi), and/or other waveforms.

A digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 62 of the transmitter 52 may convertthe digital signal to an analog signal, and a modulator 64 may combinethe converted analog signal with a carrier signal to generate a radiowave. As mentioned above, such radio wave may have a specificoscillation frequency or may be a chirp signal with increasing ordecreasing frequency. A power amplifier (PA) 66 may receive themodulated signal from the modulator 64. The power amplifier 66 mayamplify the modulated signal to a suitable level to drive transmissionof the signal via the antenna 55.

A filter 68 (e.g., filter circuitry and/or software) of the transmitter52 may then remove undesirable noise from the amplified signal togenerate transmitted signal 70 (or transmitted signal) to be transmittedvia the antenna 55. The filter 68 may include any suitable filter orfilters to remove the undesirable noise from the amplified signal, suchas a bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high passfilter, and/or a decimation filter. Additionally, the transmitter 52 mayinclude any suitable additional components not shown, or may not includecertain of the illustrated components, such that the transmitter 52 maytransmit the outgoing signal 60 via the antenna 55. For example, thetransmitter 52 may include a mixer and/or a digital up converter. Asanother example, the transmitter 52 may not include the filter 68 if thepower amplifier 66 outputs the amplified signal in or approximately in adesired frequency range (such that filtering of the amplified signal maybe unnecessary).

Moreover, the DAC 62, the modulator 64, the PA 66, the filter 68, and/orother components not shown in FIG. 3 may include a VGA with selectableamplifiers. The processor 12 may provide instructions to provide a biasvoltage (V_(T)) to one or more activated or selected amplifiers of theVGA and determine and provide a nonzero subthreshold bias voltage(V_(ST)) to remaining deactivated (e.g., non-selected) amplifiers of theVGA. For example, the processor 12 may refer to information stored onthe memory 14 (e.g., a lookup table) to determine the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) to be provided to the non-selectedamplifiers based on the selected amplifiers.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the receiver 54 (e.g., receivecircuitry), according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Asillustrated, the receiver 54 may receive received data from the one ormore antennas 55 in the form of a signal 80 (e.g., an analog signal).Low noise amplifier (LNA) 82 may amplify the received signal 80 to asuitable level for the receiver 54 to process. In particular, the LNA 82may amplify the signal 80 by applying a gain (e.g., a power gain) to thesignal 80. For example, the LNA 82 may include one or more VGAs, thoughthe LNA 82 may also include one or more passive components (e.g.,transmission lines, routing circuitry, phase shifters, and so on).

As an example, the LNA 82 may include one or more VGAs each includingmultiple amplifiers (e.g., selectable amplifiers) coupled in parallelusing multiple transmission lines. Moreover, each of the selectableamplifiers of the one or more VGAs may apply a respective gain (e.g., apower gain) to the received signal 80 when selected or activated. Forexample, amplified output signal of each activated amplifier of the VGAmay additively combine to generate a VGA output signal. Accordingly,each of the selectable amplifiers of a VGA may provide a portion of atotal gain applied by the VGA. In some cases, the VGA may provide aportion of a total gain applied by the LNA 82 and/or the receiver 54.

In any case, the LNA 82 may provide amplified signals to an RF mixer.The RF mixer may include a filter 84 (e.g., filter circuitry and/orsoftware), a demodulator 86, and an analog to digital converter (ADC)88. In different embodiments, the filter 84 may include filtercircuitry, filtering software, or both. The filter 84 may receive theamplified signal from the LNA 82. The filter 84 may remove undesirednoise from the received signal, such as cross-channel interference. Thefilter 84 may also remove additional signals received by the one or moreantennas 55 that are at frequencies other than the desired signal.Moreover, the filter 84 may include any suitable filter or filters toremove the undesired noise or signals from the received signal, such asa bandpass filter, a bandstop filter, a low pass filter, a high passfilter, and/or a decimation filter.

The demodulator 86 may remove a radio frequency envelope and/or extracta demodulated signal from the filtered signal for processing. The ADC 88may receive the demodulated analog signal and convert the signal to adigital signal of incoming data 90 to be further processed by theelectronic device 10. Additionally, the receiver 54 may include anysuitable additional components not shown, or may not include certain ofthe illustrated components, such that the receiver 54 may receive thereceived signal 80 via the one or more antennas 55. For example, thereceiver 54 may include a mixer component and/or a digital downconverter.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a VGA 100 including a first amplifier102, a second amplifier 104, and a third amplifier 106. Each of theamplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may receive an input signal 108 via firstamplifier inputs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 (e.g., first amplifier inputpins) respectively. For example, the input signal 108 may include theoutgoing signal 60 shown in FIG. 3 , the received signal 80 shown inFIG. 4 , or a different signal. Moreover, in the depicted embodiment,the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may receive a differential input signal108 via differential first amplifier inputs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3.However, in other embodiments, the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 mayreceive a single-ended input signal 108 via single-ended first amplifierinputs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3.

The amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 are selectable to be activated toprovide output signals. Each of the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 mayapply a respective gain to the input signal 108 when selected oractivated. For example, the first amplifier 102 may amplify the inputsignal 108 with a first gain (e.g., a gain of 16) to provide a firstamplifier output signal 112 via amplifier outputs 118-1 (e.g., amplifieroutput pins) when selected or activated. Moreover, the second amplifier104 may amplify the input signal 108 with a second gain (e.g., a gain of8) to provide a second amplifier output signal 114 via amplifier outputs118-2 when selected or activated. Furthermore, the third amplifier 106may amplify the input signal 108 with a third gain (e.g., a gain of 16)to provide a third amplifier output signal 116 via amplifier outputs118-3 when selected or activated.

The VGA 100 may combine the first amplifier output signal 112, thesecond amplifier output signal 114, and/or the third amplifier outputsignal 116 to provide a VGA output signal 120. For example, the VGAoutput signal 120 may have a total gain based on selecting and/oractivating one or more of the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106. In somecases, a processor (e.g., the processor 12 of FIG. 1 ) may select oractivate one or more of the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 to generate theVGA output signal 120 with a desired total gain. For example, theprocessor may determine the total gain based on a voltage amplitude ofthe input signal 108, a desired voltage amplitude of the VGA outputsignal 120, or both. In specific cases, the processor may determine thedesired voltage amplitude of the VGA output signal 120 based on one ormore downstream components receiving the VGA output signal 120.

By the way of example, the VGA output signal 120 may have a total gainbased on a cumulative value of the first gain and the second gain whenthe first amplifier 102 and the second amplifier 104 are selected and/oractivated. Moreover, the VGA output signal 120 may have a total gainbased on a cumulative value of the second gain and the third gain whenthe second amplifier 104 and the third amplifier 106 are selected and/oractivated. Furthermore, the VGA output signal 120 may have a total gainbased on a cumulative value of the first gain and the third gain whenthe first amplifier 102 and the third amplifier 106 are selected and/oractivated.

Alternatively, the VGA output signal 120 may have a total gain based ona cumulative value of the first gain, the second gain, and the thirdgain when the first amplifier 102, the second amplifier 104, and thethird amplifier 106 are selected and/or activated. It should beappreciated that the depicted embodiment is by the way of example and inother embodiments the VGA 100 may include a different number ofamplifiers (e.g., 2 or more, 4 or more, 5 or more, 8 or more, 10 ormore, 12 or more, and so on). In such embodiments, the VGA output signal120 may similarly have a total gain based on a cumulative value of theselected or activated amplifiers.

With the foregoing in mind, activating each of the amplifiers 102, 104,and 106 may include coupling second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and122-3 to a biasing circuit 124. The biasing circuit 124 may provide abias voltage (V_(T)) higher than an ON voltage threshold of theamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. Accordingly, the biasing circuit 124may provide the bias voltage (V_(T)) to the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or106 via the second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and/or 122-3 coupledthereto.

In some cases, the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may have a similar ONvoltage threshold. In such cases, the biasing circuit 124 may provideone bias voltage (V_(T)) higher than an ON voltage threshold of theamplifiers 102, 104, and 106 to the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and106 coupled thereto. In other cases, the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106may have different ON voltage thresholds. In such other cases, thebiasing circuit 124 may provide one or multiple different bias voltages(V_(T)) higher than an ON voltage threshold of the respective amplifiers102, 104, and/or 106 to the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106coupled thereto. Accordingly, the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106may provide the first amplifier output signal 112, the second amplifieroutput signal 114, and/or the third amplifier output signal 116 based oncoupling the second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and 122-3 to thebiasing circuit 124.

In some embodiments, the second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and 122-3may couple to the biasing circuit 124 via switches 126, 128, and 130.For example, a first state of the switch 126 may couple the secondamplifier input 122-1 of the first amplifier 102 to the biasing circuit124. In some cases, a processor, such as the processor 12 of FIG. 1 ,may close the switch 126 at the first state to couple the secondamplifier input 122-1 of the first amplifier 102 to the biasing circuit124.

Similarly, a first state of the switch 128 may couple the secondamplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier 104 to the biasing circuit124. The processor may close the switch 128 at the first state to couplethe second amplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier 104 to thebiasing circuit 124. Moreover, a first state of the switch 130 maycouple the second amplifier input 122-3 of the third amplifier 106 tothe biasing circuit 124. The processor 12 may close the switch 130 atthe first state to couple the second amplifier input 122-3 of the thirdamplifier 106 to the biasing circuit 124.

However, in some cases, each of the amplifier output signals 112, 114,and/or 116 may include an amplified output signal and one or moredistortion signals when activated. If not compensated for, thedistortion signals may cause deviation and/or non-linear behavior of theamplifier output signals 112, 114, and/or 116. Moreover, the distortionsignals may disturb one or more operations of the processor 12, the DAC62, the modulator 64, the PA 66, the filter 68, the filter 84, thedemodulator 86, and/or the ADC 88, among other things.

The amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may provide the distortion signalswithin a voltage magnitude range based on receiving the bias voltage(V_(T)). Moreover, the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may provide thedistortion signals within the same voltage magnitude range whenreceiving a nonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)). The nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) may be below the ON voltage thresholdof the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106. For example, nonzero subthresholdbias voltage (V_(ST)) may be below 0.1 microvolt (RV), below 0.5 μV,below 0.1 millivolt (mV), below 0.1 volt (V), and so on. A subthresholdbiasing circuit 132 may provide one or more nonzero subthreshold biasvoltages (V_(ST)).

In the disclosed embodiments, one or more of the remaining deactivatedor non-selected amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 may provide controlleddistortion signals to cancel the distortion signals of the activatedamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 when supplied with the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)). For example, the distortioncancelling signals of the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106supplied with the nonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) may be 180degrees out of phase from the distortion signals of the activatedamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106.

In such cases, the second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and 122-3 ofthe deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may couple to thesubthreshold biasing circuit 132 via the switch 126, 128, or 130. Forexample, a second state of the switch 126 may couple the secondamplifier input 122-1 of the first amplifier 102 to the subthresholdbiasing circuit 132. The processor 12 may close the switch 126 at thesecond state to couple the second amplifier input 122-2 of the secondamplifier 104 to the subthreshold biasing circuit 132.

Similarly, a second state of the switch 128 may couple the secondamplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier 104 to the subthresholdbiasing circuit 132. The processor 12 close the switch 128 at the secondstate to couple the second amplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier104 to the subthreshold biasing circuit 132. Moreover, a second state ofthe switch 130 may couple the second amplifier input 122-3 of the thirdamplifier 106 to the subthreshold biasing circuit 132. The processor 12may close the switch 130 at the second state to couple the secondamplifier input 122-3 of the third amplifier 106 to the subthresholdbiasing circuit 132.

In some embodiments, the processor (e.g., the processor 12 of FIG. 1 )may determine multiple nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) basedon different selections or activations of the amplifiers 102, 104,and/or 106 to provide the VGA output signal 120 with the total gain. Insuch embodiments, the processor 12 may set a nonzero subthreshold biasvoltage (V_(ST)) of the multiple nonzero subthreshold bias voltages(V_(ST)) based on a selection or activation of the amplifiers 102, 104,and/or 106.

Moreover, the processor 12 may determine a number and/or configurationof the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 to couple to thesubthreshold biasing circuit 132 based on the different activations ofthe amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. For example, the processor 12couple one or more of the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 tothe subthreshold biasing circuit 132 based on activation of anycombination of the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106.

In some embodiments, the processor 12 may refer to predeterminedinformation stored in a memory (e.g., the memory 14 and/or nonvolatilestorage 16 of FIG. 1 ) to couple the deactivated amplifiers to thesubthreshold biasing circuit 132. For example, the processor 12 mayrefer to the predetermined information based on the activation of theamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. In some cases, the processor 12 may usea lookup table stored in the memory 14 that stores the predeterminedinformation.

The lookup table may be generated during manufacturing and/or may begenerated (or updated) by the processor 12 during operation of theelectronic device 10. For example, the processor 12 may generate orupdate the lookup table (e.g., the predetermined information) usingmachine learning during operation of the electronic device 10. In anycase, the processor 12 may refer to the lookup table to provideinstructions to the switches 126, 128, and 130 to couple the activatedamplifiers to the biasing circuit 124 and couple one or more of thedeactivated amplifiers to the subthreshold biasing circuit 132.

Moreover, in some embodiments, the processor 12 may couple thedeactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 to a ground connection 134. Thedeactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 coupled to the groundconnection 134 may thus be in an idle state. In some cases, a thirdstate of the switch 126 may couple the second amplifier input 122-1 ofthe first amplifier 102 to the ground connection 134. The processor 12may close the switch 126 at the third state to couple the secondamplifier input 122-2 of the first amplifier 102 to the groundconnection 134.

Similarly, a third state of the switch 128 may couple the secondamplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier 104 to the groundconnection 134. The processor 12 may close the switch 128 at the thirdstate to couple the second amplifier input 122-2 of the second amplifier104 to the ground connection 134. Moreover, a third state of the switch130 may couple the second amplifier input 122-3 of the third amplifier106 to the ground connection 134. The processor 12 may close the switch130 at the third state to couple the second amplifier input 122-3 of thethird amplifier 106 to the ground connection 134.

In any case, the processor 12 may activate or deactivate the amplifiers102, 104, 106 and/or close or open switches 126, 128, 130 based onentries of the lookup table corresponding to activation of anycombination of the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106. Accordingly, theactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may amplify the input signal 108based on the respective gains when coupled to the biasing circuit 124.As mentioned above, the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 maygenerate the amplifier output signals 112, 114, and 116, which mayinclude the amplified output signal and the distortion signals.

When coupled to the subthreshold biasing circuit 132, the one or more ofthe deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may provide distortioncancelling signals. When coupled to the ground connection 134, the oneor more of the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 may become idle.Accordingly, the processor 12 may cause the one or more of thedeactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 to provide distortioncancelling signals by coupling them to the subthreshold biasing circuit132, or to become idle by coupling them to the ground connection 134.

In some embodiments, the VGA 100 may also include capacitors 136, 138,140, 142, 144, and 146. In the depicted embodiment, each differentialamplifier inputs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 may couple to a respective pairof the capacitors 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, and 146 in series. Each ofthe capacitors 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, and 146 may block a directcurrent (DC) to provide alternative current (AC) coupling. For example,the capacitors 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, and 146 may block bias voltages(V_(T)). Accordingly, the capacitors 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, and 146may provide the input signal 108 in the form of an AC signal when therespective amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 are ON or activated.

The VGA 100 may also include resistors 148, 150, and 152. The resistors148, 150, and 152 may isolate AC signals from the biasing circuit 124,the subthreshold biasing circuit 132, and/or the ground connection 134.In some cases, the resistors 148, 150, and 152 may reduce leakage of theinput signal 108 or the amplifier output signals 112, 114, or 116 (e.g.,the amplified output signals and/or the distortion signals) from theamplifiers 102, 104, and 106 to the biasing circuit 124, thesubthreshold biasing circuit 132, and/or the ground connection 134. Inany case, in different embodiments, the VGA 100 may or may not includethe capacitors 136, 138, 140, 142, 144, and 146, the resistors 148, 150,and 152.

With the foregoing in mind, FIG. 6 depicts a subthreshold biasingcircuit 132. In some cases, the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 may beallocated or otherwise dedicated to the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 ofthe VGA 100. For example, the electronic device 10 and/or the VGA 100may include the subthreshold biasing circuit 132. The subthresholdbiasing circuit 132 may include a number of transistors 180 (e.g., afirst transistor 180-1, additional transistors 180-2, 180-N) configuredto couple in parallel to provide the nonzero subthreshold bias voltage(V_(ST)). Each of the transistors 180 may couple or uncouple a currentsource 184 to the ground connection 134.

A number of switches 182 (e.g., switch 182-1 and switches 182-2, 182-N)may couple or uncouple one or more of the transistors 180 in parallel.The transistors 180 that are coupled in parallel may couple the currentsource 184 to the ground connection 134. In some cases, the currentsource 184 may receive configuration settings based on a configurationof the biasing circuit 124 and/or the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106.For example, the current source 184 may be adjusted based on aconfiguration of the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 to provideelectrical current to one or more of the transistors 180. Accordingly, acurrent output of the current source 184 may be adjusted based on theconfiguration of the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 and/or predefinedsettings.

In some cases, a processor (e.g., the processor 12 of FIG. 1 ) mayprovide instructions indicative of the configuration of the amplifiers102, 104, and/or 106 to the current source 184. Moreover, a processor,the current source 184, or any other viable component may provide one ormore control signals to open or close the switches 182. Accordingly, thenonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) is adjusted based oncontrolling a current output of the current source 184 and a number ofthe switches 182 coupled to the current source 184.

The transistors 180 may draw current through the current source 184 tothe ground connection 134 when coupled between the current source 184and the ground connection 134. In the depicted embodiment, a firsttransistor 180-1 is coupled between the current source 184 and theground connection 134 without a switch 182. The remaining transistors(e.g., a transistor 180-2, a transistor 180-N) may couple between thecurrent source 184 and the ground connection 134 in parallel to thefirst transistor 180-1 when a respective switch 182 (e.g., a switch182-1, or a switch 182-N) is closed. In some cases, each of thetransistors 180 may draw a similar current through the current source184 to the ground connection 134. However, in other cases, thetransistors 180 may draw a different current through the current source184 to the ground connection 134.

A number of the transistors 180 drawing current through the currentsource 184 to the ground connection 134 may determine the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)). Moreover, a processor (e.g., theprocessor 12 of FIG. 1 ), the current source 184, or any other viablecomponent may provide one or more control signals to close a number ofthe switches 182 to control a current consumption of the subthresholdbiasing circuit 132. Accordingly, the processor 12 (or any other viablecomponent providing the control signals) may control the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) based on closing a number of theswitches 182. For example, the configuration settings of the currentsource 184 is predetermined (e.g., stored in the memory 14 and/ornonvolatile storage 16 of FIG. 1 ) or is determined based on running oneor more tests by the processor 12.

In some embodiments, the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 may providethe nonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) to maintain a totalcurrent consumption of the VGA 100 below a total current consumptionthreshold. In such embodiments, the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 mayprovide the nonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) based on acurrent consumption of the subthreshold biasing circuit 132. Forexample, the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 may provide the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) such that a current consumption ofthe subthreshold biasing circuit 132 and the biasing circuit 124 isbelow the total current consumption threshold.

For example, the processor 12 may receive or determine the currentconsumption of the biasing circuit 124 and the subthreshold biasingcircuit 132. In some cases, the processor 12 may receive or determinethe current consumption of the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 from thecurrent source 184. In alternative or additional cases, the processor 12may receive or determine the current consumption of the subthresholdbiasing circuit 132 based on a current draw of each of the transistors180 and a number of transistors 180 coupled between the current source184 and the ground connection 134. Accordingly, the processor 12 mayprovide the one or more control signals to provide the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) such that the biasing circuit 124 andthe subthreshold biasing circuit 132 may draw a total current below thetotal current consumption threshold.

With the foregoing in mind, it should be appreciated that the depictedembodiment of the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 in FIG. 6 is providedas an example, and in other embodiments, a different subthresholdbiasing circuit 132 may provide the nonzero subthreshold bias voltage.Moreover, in some cases, the biasing circuit 124 may include a similaror different circuit. For example, the biasing circuit 124 may include acurrent source, a number of transistors coupled (or configured to becoupled) in parallel, one or more switches configured to couple anduncouple the number of parallel transistors, among other things.

FIG. 7 depicts a graph 200 of a distortion signal 202 and a compensateddistortion signal 204 of the VGA 100. As discussed above, the amplifieroutput signals 112, 114, and/or 116 of the activated amplifiers 102,104, and/or 106 may each generate an amplified output signal and one ormore distortion signals. Moreover, the amplifier output signals 112,114, and/or 116 may combine to form the VGA output signal 120.

Accordingly, the VGA output signal 120 may include the combinedamplified output signals and the distortion signal 202 (the combineddistortion signals) of the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106receiving the bias voltage (V_(T)). Moreover, the VGA output signal 120may include the combined amplified output signals and the compensateddistortion signal 204 (the combined distortion signals) of the activatedamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 receiving the bias voltage (V_(T)) andthe deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 receiving the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)). As mentioned above, the distortionsignals may cause deviation and/or non-linear behavior of the VGA outputsignal 120 and are undesired.

The subthreshold biasing circuit 132 described above may provide thenonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)) to one or more of thedeactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 shown in FIG. 5 to reduce ormitigate an output power (e.g., electrical power) of the distortionsignals 202 to generate the compensated distortion signal 204.Accordingly, the output power of the distortion signals 202 may decreaseat various frequencies when the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or106 provide the distortion cancelling signals based on receiving thenonzero subthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)), resulting in the compensateddistortion signal 204.

For example, the processor 12 may supply the nonzero subthreshold biasvoltage (V_(ST)) to one or more of the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104,and 106. Moreover, the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 mayprovide the distortion cancelling signals based on receiving the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage (V_(ST)). Accordingly, the VGA 100 maygenerate the VGA output signal 120 that includes the compensateddistortion signal 204. As illustrated in FIG. 7 , the compensateddistortion signal 204 may have a reduced output power (e.g., reduced by1 decibel (dB), 2 dB, 3 dB, 4 dB, 10 dB, and so on) compared to thedistortion signals 202.

A vertical axis 206 of the graph 200 may illustrate an output power ofthe distortion signal 202 and the compensated distortion signal 204 overan output power range in decibel-milliwatts (dBm). Moreover, the graph200 may include a horizontal axis 208 depicting a frequency of thedistortion signal 202 and the compensated distortion signal 204 over afrequency range in gigahertz (GHz). However, it should be appreciatedthat the frequency range of the horizontal axis 208 is provided as anexample and can be substantially different in other embodiments.

Moreover, the distortion signal 202 and the compensated distortionsignal 204 are provided as examples. Accordingly, it should beappreciated that in different embodiments, the distortion signal 202 andthe compensated distortion signal 204 may have different output powersover different frequencies. Furthermore, the VGA 100 may provide the VGAoutput signal 120 with the high gains at a frequency range around acenter frequency (e.g., 1 megahertz (MHz), 20 MHz, 200 MHz, 1 GHz, 24GHz, 27 GHz, 30 GHz, and so on).

In the depicted embodiment, the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 of the VGA100 may provide the VGA output signal 120 with the highest output powerwithin a frequency range from 24 GHZ to 30 GHz. Moreover, the distortionsignals 202 or the compensated distortion signals 204 may have a lowoutput power within the frequency range from 24 GHZ to 30 GHz. Forexample, a distortion signal 202 may have an output power ofapproximately −67 dBm at around 27 GHz, and the compensated distortionsignals 204 may have an output power of approximately −78 dBm at around27 GHz. However, in different embodiments, the VGA output signal 120 mayhave a highest output power and the distortion signals 202 or thecompensated distortion signals 204 may have the lowest output poweraround a different frequency.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 230 for generating the VGA outputsignal 120 described with respect to the VGA 100 of FIG. 5 with reduceddistortion by providing the compensated distortion signal 204illustrated in FIG. 7 . The method 230 may facilitate compensating forgain distortions of the amplifier output signals 112, 114, and 116discussed above. Any suitable device that may control components of theelectronic device 10 including the VGA 100, such as the processor 12,may perform the method 230.

For example, the processor 12 may perform the method 230 to providecontrol signals to the switches 126, 128, and 130, the biasing circuit124, and/or the subthreshold biasing circuit 132. Accordingly, theprocessor 12 may perform the method 230 to compensate for the gaindistortions of the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. In some embodiments,the method 230 may be implemented by executing instructions stored in atangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium, such as the memory14 or nonvolatile storage 16, using the processor 12. For example, themethod 230 may be performed at least in part by one or more softwarecomponents, such as an operating system of the electronic device 10, oneor more software applications of the electronic device 10, and the like.

While the method 230 is described using steps in a specific sequence, itshould be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that thedescribed steps may be performed in different sequences than thesequence illustrated, and certain described steps may be skipped or notperformed altogether. For example, although the method 230 is describedwith respect to the amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 of the VGA 100illustrated in FIG. 5 , it should be appreciated that in additional oralternative cases, the method 230 may be similarly used for a differentcombination of amplifiers of a VGA.

In block 232, the processor 12 receives an indication to amplify asignal with a gain. For example, the processor 12 may receive anindication to amplify the received signal 80 of FIG. 4 , the outgoingsignal 60 of FIG. 3 , or a different signal using a VGA (e.g., the VGA100 of FIG. 1 n block 234, the processor 12 determines one or moreselectable amplifiers of the VGA to amplify the signal with the receivedgain. As mentioned above, output signals of the selected amplifiers mayhave an additive effect when combined. For example, the processor 12 maydetermine the amplifiers 102, 104, 106, or a combination of theamplifiers 102, 104, and 106 of the VGA 100 to amplify the signal withthe received gain.

In block 236, the processor 12 causes a biasing circuit to provide abias voltage higher than a bias voltage threshold to activate the one ormore selected amplifiers to amplify the signal with the gain. Forexample, the processor 12 may close the switches 126, 128, and/or 130 atthe first state of the selected amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. Assuch, the processor 12 may couple the second amplifier inputs 122-1,122-2, and/or 122-3 of the selected amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 tothe biasing circuit 124. Accordingly, the selected or activatedamplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 may each amplify the received signalbased on receiving the biasing voltage.

At block 238, the processor 12 causes the subthreshold biasing circuitto provide a nonzero subthreshold bias voltage below the bias voltagethreshold to one or more remaining (e.g., non-selected) amplifiers ofthe VGA 100 to deactivate the remaining amplifiers. For example, theprocessor 12 may close the switches 126, 128, and/or 130 at the secondstate of the remaining amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106. As such, theprocessor 12 may couple the second amplifier inputs 122-1, 122-2, and/or122-3 of the remaining amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 to thesubthreshold biasing circuit 132 to deactivate the remaining amplifiers102, 104, and/or 106. Accordingly, the one or more deactivatedamplifiers of the VGA 100 may provide the distortion cancelling signalto reduce an amplitude of (or cancel) the distortion signals of theamplified signals (e.g., or the combined amplified signal of the VGA100).

At block 240, the processor 12 causes the VGA 100 to output acombination of output signals of the amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106.Accordingly, the VGA 100 may combine the amplified signals and thedistortion signals of the activated and deactivated amplifiers 102, 104,and/or 106 to provide the VGA output signal with reduced distortion. Asmentioned above, the distortion cancelling signals may reduce or cancelthe distortion signals of the activated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106.As such, an amplitude (e.g., electrical power) of the distortion signalof the VGA output signal may be reduced based on providing the nonzerosubthreshold bias voltage to the deactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or106 of the VGA 100. The processor 12 may determine or retrieve thenonzero subthreshold bias voltage and/or the configuration of thedeactivated amplifiers 102, 104, and/or 106 of the VGA 100 receiving thenonzero subthreshold bias voltage from the lookup table stored in thememory 14, nonvolatile storage 16, or any other viable storage of theelectronic device 10.

FIG. 9 depicts a graph of electrical powers 260 (e.g., in dB) ofcompensated distortion signals 204-1, 204-2, and 204-3 provided bydifferent VGAs 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 of FIG. 5 . The VGAs 100-1,100-2, and 100-3 may correspond to VGAs 100 having similar schematicswith different component properties and/or manufacturing processvariations. In particular, amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 of each of thedifferent VGAs 100 may receive the bias voltage (V_(T)) to becomeactivated. Moreover, remaining amplifiers 102, 104, and 106 of each ofthe different VGAs 100 may receive a range of nonzero subthreshold biasvoltages (V_(ST)) 262 to compensate for distortion signals 202 of thedifferent VGAs 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 of FIG. 5 .

As mentioned above, the subthreshold biasing circuit 132 may provide therange of nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) 262 (e.g.,including the one or more nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST))).In some cases, the processor 12 may provide one or more control signalsto provide the range of nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) 262based on controlling the current source 184 and/or the switches 182 ofthe subthreshold biasing circuit 132. That is, the processor 12 mayadjust the current source 184 and/or the switches 182 to providedifferent nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) 262, which may, inturn result in varying the amount of compensation of the distortionsignals 202. The processor 12 may provide one or more control signals toprovide the range of nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) 262 incalibration mode, during a start-up sequence of an electronic device 10including the VGA 100, during manufacturing, and so on.

In any case, the processor 12, or any other viable processing circuitinternal or external to the electronic device 10, may select a nonzerosubthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) (e.g., 7 mV, 8 mV, 9 mV, 10 mV, 7μV, 8 μV, 9 μV, 10 μV, and so on) of the range of nonzero subthresholdbias voltages (V_(ST)) 262. For example, the processor 12 may providethe selected nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST)) to cause highercompensation of the distortion signals 202. For example, the processor12 may provide the selected nonzero subthreshold bias voltages (V_(ST))such that the VGAs 100-1, 100-2, and 100-3 may provide the compensateddistortion signals 204-1, 204-2, and 204-3, respectively, with thelowest electrical power (e.g., −65 dB, −70 dB, −75 dB, −80 dB, −85 dB,−90 dB, −95 dB, and so on).

The specific embodiments described above have been shown by way ofexample, and it should be understood that these embodiments may besusceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. It should befurther understood that the claims are not intended to be limited to theparticular forms disclosed, but rather to cover all modifications,equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope ofthis disclosure.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and appliedto material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature thatdemonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are notabstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claimsappended to the end of this specification contain one or more elementsdesignated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for[perform]ing [a function] . . . ,” it is intended that such elements areto be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 114(f). However, for any claimscontaining elements designated in any other manner, it is intended thatsuch elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 114(f).

It is well understood that the use of personally identifiableinformation should follow privacy policies and practices that aregenerally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmentalrequirements for maintaining the privacy of users. In particular,personally identifiable information data should be managed and handledso as to minimize risks of unintentional or unauthorized access or use,and the nature of authorized use should be clearly indicated to users.

1. (canceled)
 2. A variable gain amplifier circuit, comprising: a firstamplifier; a first switch coupled to the first amplifier; a secondamplifier; a second switch coupled to the second amplifier; a biasingcircuit configured to couple to the first amplifier via the first switchand configured to couple to the second amplifier via the second switch;and a subthreshold biasing circuit configured to couple to the firstamplifier via the first switch and configured to couple to the secondamplifier via the second switch, the subthreshold biasing circuitcomprising a current source circuit and a first transistor coupled tothe current source circuit, the first switch, and the second switch. 3.The variable gain amplifier circuit of claim 2, wherein the variablegain amplifier circuit is configured to combine an output of the firstamplifier and an output of the second amplifier.
 4. The variable gainamplifier circuit of claim 2, wherein the first amplifier is configuredto generate a first amplified signal and a first distortion signal basedon coupling to the biasing circuit, the second amplifier is configuredto generate a first distortion cancelling signal based on coupling tothe subthreshold biasing circuit, the first distortion cancelling signalreducing a power of the first distortion signal.
 5. The variable gainamplifier circuit of claim 2, wherein the second amplifier is configuredto generate a second amplified signal and a second distortion signalbased on coupling to the biasing circuit, the first amplifier isconfigured to generate a second distortion cancelling signal based oncoupling to the subthreshold biasing circuit, the second distortioncancelling signal reducing a power of the second distortion signal. 6.The variable gain amplifier circuit of claim 2, wherein the biasingcircuit is configured to output a bias voltage equal to or above a biasvoltage threshold, the first amplifier and the second amplifierconfigured to amplify an input signal based on the bias voltage.
 7. Thevariable gain amplifier circuit of claim 2, wherein the subthresholdbiasing circuit is configured to output a first subthreshold nonzerobias voltage below a bias voltage threshold, the first amplifier and thesecond amplifier being configured to generate first respectivedistortion cancelling signals based on the first subthreshold nonzerobias voltage.
 8. The variable gain amplifier circuit of claim 7, whereinthe subthreshold biasing circuit comprises a second transistorconfigured to couple to the first transistor via a third switch, thesubthreshold biasing circuit being configured to output a secondsubthreshold nonzero bias voltage below the bias voltage threshold basedon the second transistor coupling to the first transistor via the thirdswitch, the first amplifier and the second amplifier being configured togenerate second respective distortion cancelling signals based on thesecond subthreshold nonzero bias voltage.
 9. The variable gain amplifiercircuit of claim 8, wherein the subthreshold biasing circuit comprises athird transistor configured to couple to the second transistor via afourth switch, the subthreshold biasing circuit being configured tooutput a third subthreshold nonzero bias voltage below the bias voltagethreshold based on the third transistor coupling to the first transistorand the second transistor via the third switch and the fourth switch,the first amplifier and the second amplifier being configured togenerate third respective distortion cancelling signals based on thethird subthreshold nonzero bias voltage.
 10. The variable gain amplifiercircuit of claim 2, comprising a third amplifier, the biasing circuitconfigured to couple to the third amplifier via a third switch, and thefirst transistor coupled to the current source circuit, the firstswitch, the second switch, and the third switch.
 11. An electronicdevice comprising: an antenna; a first amplifier; a biasing circuitconfigured to couple to the first amplifier; a subthreshold biasingcircuit configured to couple to the first amplifier, the subthresholdbiasing circuit comprising a current source circuit and a firsttransistor coupled to the current source circuit and the firstamplifier; and a processor coupled to the first amplifier, the processorbeing configured to couple the biasing circuit and the subthresholdbiasing circuit to the first amplifier.
 12. The electronic device ofclaim 11, comprising a second amplifier, the processor being coupled tothe second amplifier, and the processor configured to couple the biasingcircuit and the subthreshold biasing circuit to the second amplifier.13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the first amplifier isconfigured to generate an amplified signal and a distortion signal basedon coupling to the biasing circuit, and the first amplifier isconfigured to generate a distortion cancelling signal based on couplingto the subthreshold biasing circuit.
 14. The electronic device of claim13, wherein the subthreshold biasing circuit is configured to output afirst subthreshold nonzero bias voltage below a bias voltage threshold,the first amplifier being configured to generate a first distortioncancelling signal based on the first subthreshold nonzero bias voltage,the first distortion cancelling signal reducing a power of thedistortion signal.
 15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein thesubthreshold biasing circuit comprises a second transistor configured tocouple to the first transistor, the subthreshold biasing circuit beingconfigured to output a second subthreshold nonzero bias voltage belowthe bias voltage threshold based on the second transistor coupling tothe first transistor, the first amplifier being configured to generate asecond distortion cancelling signal based on the second subthresholdnonzero bias voltage.
 16. The electronic device of claim 11, comprising:a transmitter comprising the first amplifier, the first amplifierconfigured to output amplified transmission signals to the antenna, or areceiver comprising the first amplifier, the first amplifier configuredto output amplified received signals to the processor.
 17. A transceivercomprising: a first amplifier configured to couple to an antenna; asecond amplifier configured to couple to the antenna; a biasing circuitconfigured to couple to the first amplifier and the second amplifier,the biasing circuit configured to generate a bias voltage equal to orabove a bias voltage threshold; and a subthreshold biasing circuitconfigured to couple to the first amplifier and the second amplifier,the subthreshold biasing circuit comprising a current source circuit anda first transistor coupled to the current source circuit and configuredto couple to the first amplifier and the second amplifier, thesubthreshold biasing circuit configured to generate a first subthresholdnonzero bias voltage below the bias voltage threshold.
 18. Thetransceiver of claim 17, wherein the first amplifier is configured togenerate a first amplified signal and a first distortion signal based oncoupling to the biasing circuit, the second amplifier is configured togenerate a first distortion cancelling signal based on coupling to thesubthreshold biasing circuit, the first distortion cancelling signalreducing a power of the first distortion signal.
 19. The transceiver ofclaim 17, wherein the second amplifier is configured to generate asecond amplified signal and a second distortion signal based on couplingto the biasing circuit, the first amplifier is configured to generate asecond distortion cancelling signal based on coupling to thesubthreshold biasing circuit, the second distortion cancelling signalbeing reducing a power of the second distortion signal.
 20. Thetransceiver of claim 17, wherein the subthreshold biasing circuitcomprises a second transistor configured to couple to the firsttransistor and the current source circuit, the subthreshold biasingcircuit being configured to output a second subthreshold nonzero biasvoltage below the bias voltage threshold based on the second transistorcoupling to the first transistor and the current source circuit, thefirst amplifier and the second amplifier being configured to generatesecond respective distortion cancelling signals based on the secondsubthreshold nonzero bias voltage.
 21. The transceiver of claim 17,comprising: a transmitter comprising the first amplifier and the secondamplifier, the first amplifier and the second amplifier configured tooutput amplified transmission signals to the antenna; or a receivercomprising the first amplifier and the second amplifier, the firstamplifier and the second amplifier configured to output amplifiedreceived signals received by the antenna.